From there to here, from here to there, Funny things are everywhere
I have a new obsession: mason jars. And the only thing better than new mason jars is vintage mason jars. Not really so good for food storage, but really quite fantastic for storing other beautiful things, like say sea glass. And sunflowers.
Sunflowers + porch + autumn colours + vintage mason jar = happy. 🙂
I wasn’t really planning a walk in the woods for today, but I’m glad I made the time for it. There is something about the whispering of leaves in the wind and the gurgle of rushing water (in this case, the Jock River) and the beautiful colours of fall that resets your soul, yanno?
And of course, there are photos to be taken. I have photos of leaves, of acorns, of fallen birches and red oak leaves against a blue sky, but it was this photo that was my clear favourite. It is both exactly what I tried to capture and something completely unexpected.
(I kinda wish I had moved the watermark to another spot for this one. Oops!)
I focused on the leaves in the bottom left and opened my aperture really wide to throw the background into focus. The circular pattern comes from shape of the aperture blades on the lens, and that blur is commonly called bokeh. More expensive and higher quality lenses generally make more desireable bokeh. I rented a very expensive lens (that I ended up returning unused because it was broken!) a few weekends ago, and the bokeh was AMAZING. Unfortunately, I only took about six pictures before I realized it wasn’t working properly. Oh well. I’ll get one of my own once that lottery win comes in, and in the interim I like this bubbly bokeh just fine.
Have you been out wandering in the woods lately? I highly recommend making some time to do so!
We stood in line for two hours for our turn. They ran out of hot dogs at the concession stand and I had foolishly not thought to pack any food. And yet, we all agreed – the wait was well worth it. For what? To decorate and then launch our pumpkins across a field to a giant billboard target using a medieval catapult called a trebuchet at the annual Smashing Pumpkins festival at the Cumberland Village Heritage Museum.
First, you decorate while you wait for your turn.
Simon’s says, “I have a death sentence” on one side and “Simon wuz here” on the other.
Not to be outdone, Tristan’s says “I believe I can fly.” (I do love their senses of humour, my boys.)
After almost an entire afternoon of waiting, it was finally our turn!
You yank on the cord, which pulls out the pin, which releases the lever that is counterweighted on the opposite end. Gravity works its magic and the non-counterweighted end of the lever flings the pumpkin, tucked securely into a little hammock, to sail across the field toward the target.
After each launching one, I let the boys launch mine together.
Can you see the incoming pumpkin?
Bulls-eye!! (Ahem, this may or may not have been MY pumpkin. We watched probably a hundred pumpkins get launched, and I was thrilled to capture this photo of one of the ten or so we actually saw hit the bulls-eye!)
Is that crazy fun or what? Beloved is Googling “backyard trebuchet” so we don’t have to wait in such a long line next year. Sorry neighbours – you’ve been warned!
Disclosure: The City of Ottawa is a sponsor of this blog. This adventure was inspired entirely by our own whims, however, and we bought our own annual membership to facilitate this blog post.
It was a madly busy but wonderfully photogenic September, and I’m just now starting to catch up. Back a few weeks ago, we went apple picking at one of our favourite places, the Log Cabin Orchard near Osgoode.
I was delighted to capture three very different portraits of three very different boys. Each pose and set-up seems perfect for their personalities. You’d almost think I was getting good at this photography thing, to say nothing of this mothering thing. Who knew?
They’re all so lovely, though, aren’t they? Handsome young men, my babies have become.
Can you tell I’ve been hauling my camera around with me at lunch time this week? This season is so brief, and the mild weather has been such a gift, that I can’t help but take as many pretty autumn photos as I can.
Like this one!
I loved how the colourful maples perfectly frame the Peace Tower and how the leaves on the ground give you a little something extra to look at in the foreground. (But I did have to clone out a big ugly crane to the left of the Tower with Photoshop!)
What’s your favourite place in Ottawa to admire the colours of autumn?
You know how some treasures are hidden in plain sight? Ya, like this one:
The Peace Tower. How many photos do I have of the Peace Tower? I started counting on Flickr and stopped when I got to 40. I gaze upon it every single day, several times a day, each day that I am at work. And yet, it has been more than 20 years since I went up inside the Peace Tower. You’d think between all the photos and the blog posts about things to do in Ottawa, I’d have put two and two together before now, right?
How cool is that? It’s little smudgy, and someone needs to get up there with a squeegy, but it’s still way cool to be so close to the clock face that I gaze upon so many days of the year. If you look at this shot, you can see the row of square observation deck windows right under the clock face.
Truth be told, I was actually a little disappointed at first. I’d wanted to see the carillon bells up close, but you only see them as you zip past in the elevator. (Parliamentary trivia: the observation deck is one flight of stairs and nine floors up in an elevator.) It was bright and glarey looking south toward downtown, and the windows were a little fogged and the lunchtime sun made taking good photos of downtown a bit of a bust. But then I walked around to look out to the east — and I might have actually gasped in delight. Look at beautiful Majors Hill park, and the US Embassy, and all those lovely, colourful trees!
And then I worked my way around to the north side of the observation deck and LOOK AT THIS VIEW!!!
I’ve gazed at so.many views and perspectives of Ottawa, but I can’t believe I’ve never seen more of this one. What an incredible vista. You can see two bridges, two provinces, two cities, the Museum of Civilization (or whatever it’s called now), and just around either side the National Gallery, the Chateau Laurier, more bridges, most of downtown, the river stretching off in either direction…
Wow. Talk about the best view in town!
I had to wait in a bit of a queue, so I didn’t really have time to take the tour of anything except the Peace Tower itself. You can take a self-guided tour, but I’d leave at least 60 to 90 minutes to get in, up, look around and come back down. There are also self-guided and guided tours of the Centre Block (including the Senate, House of Commons and Library) and guided tours of the East Block in summer months only. Tours are free of charge.
I’m definitely going back for a tour soon! The Senate and House of Commons are interesting, but what I really want to see again is the beautiful Library. I remember being enchanted the first and only time I saw it, 20+ years ago.
When is the last time YOU went up the Peace Tower?